Eric Olsen, 41, collected vintage cars, with a special fondness for Cadillacs from the 40s. He was off-duty that morning with plans to tinker on one of his cars with his friend, Arthur Barry. Instead they both suited up and walked to the WTC to help.
A widower, Olsen is remembered by his family as s man inclined to see the best in everyone and a “passion for finding beauty.”
Douglas Oelschlager, 36 had been a volunteer firefighter for almost two decades before joining the FDNY in 2000. On rotation from Ladder Co. 7, on 9/11, he had just finished his night shift at Ladder 6 on Canal, and arrived at his day shift at Ladder 15 in time to catch the truck to the WTC. “Isn’t it great how I love to go to work?” he had once told his wife. Oelschlager came to the FDNY after working in building engineering. His knowledge of high-rise construction and operations was a plus in the fire service.
He left behind two daughters, 11 and 8.
Scott Larsen’s fourth child was born on September 13th. He loved being a father. He would speed home from the firehouse to play with his kids, 9,8 and 5. In warm weather they would take to their bikes or rollerblades. Come spring break he would pack everyone in the car and drive to Disney World. His favorite ride was Space Mountain, but even his bribes of stuffed animals wouldn’t get his kids back on it.
Larsen, 35, assigned to Ladder 163, was on rotation to Ladder Co. 15 on 9/11.
Scott Kopytko, 32, was once a commodities broker at the World Trade Center.
He had joined the FDNY in 1998. On 9/11 he was only a couple credits shy of getting a Masters in Finance from St. John’s University, but the FDNY was his dream and true calling. He was studying for the Lieutenants exam.
Firefighter Thomas W. Kelly, 50, “bled Dodgers blue so truly that he paid $1,420 for an original seat from Ebbets Field.” Nicknamed “Mr. Dependable” at the firehouse, he was a mentor to the probies.
Thirty years earlier, in September of 1971, when he was still a steamfitter, Kelly took the woman he would marry on their very first date to his construction site: Two World Trade Center. A $20 bill got them past the security guard and he took her to the 40th floor to see his work. His job had been to spray the asbestos insulation. The WTC had been grandfathered in when the rules about asbestos insulation were changed nationally and it was the last major building built that way.
He joined the FDNY in 1984 because, as his wife said, “he had a love of saving people.” Kelly left behind two sons and four cats.
Arthur Barry, 35, was a very mechanical guy, “Mr. Fix-it” at the firehouse. He was technically on vacation on 9/11, but was in Manhattan to drop off a machine he’d fixed at the firehouse. Arriving after the others had left, he geared up and walked over to the scene with Eric Olsen.
In 2000 Barry had taken a 10,000 mile motorcycle excursion across Canada, up to Alaska. When his travel buddy decided to fly back home, Barry rode back across the northern states on his own. He owned three Harleys and was building a sidecar for one that might be used on the next such trip.
The son of a retired FDNY fireboat captain, Barry was an elevator mechanic before being appointed to the FDNY in 1993.
On November 2, 2001, the FDNY for the very first time issued six posthumous diplomas to graduated probies. Richard Allen, 31, was one. of them Allen came naturally to a job that helped people. He was a Rockaway Beach lifeguard and a New York City public school substitute teacher before being appointed to the FDNY. Actually, he was hoping being a firefighter meant he could also continue to do the other two.
He was helping civilians escape the lobby of Tower One when it collapsed.
Lt. Joseph Leavey loved skyscrapers, so first he became an engineer in the construction business. His favorite spot was Battery Park City, built on the landfill created from excavating the foundations of the World Trade Center complex. WTC One and Two were his favorite buildings. He thought they were an “engineering marvel” and he shot hundreds of photos of them.
Appointed to the FDNY in 1982, he was promoted to Lieutenant and assigned to Ladder Co. 15 based at the South Street Seaport in Lower Manhattan in 1998.
Leavey left behind a son, 17, a daughter, 11, and a stepdaughter whom he had walked down the aisle just a year earlier.
Paul Tegtmeier waited 20 years to become a New York City firefighter. He finally got the call just 18 months before 9/11, when he was 40. All that time he had been honing his skills as a volunteer firefighter in Hyde Park, NY, which is also how and where he met his wife. Stationed with Engine Co. 4 for 18 months, he was on his way to Ladder Co. 46 in the Bronx where he was permanently assigned.
Tegtmeier left behind a son, 6 and daughter, 3.
Thomas Schoales, 27, was the youngest of six and the son of a Battalion Chief. He was highly competitive and particularly good at baseball and basketball. At Engine 83 where he began his career, the first one to the back step would be able to have control of the nozzle. “It was hard to beat him to the back step. He was always there.” After a year he was transferred to Engine Co. 4 in lower Manhattan, but he continued to picnic and play basketball with E83.
Among his many nieces and nephews he had a different reputation. “Uncle Tommy was a softer touch than a bunny’s ears.”